Soumen Majumdar's credit card, which was used to make nine transactions worth Rs1.17 lakh in the US while he was at home in Navi Mumbai, could have been cloned.

Majumdar had, on January 6, received a series of nine text messages on his mobile phone from his bank, informing him of
the transactions after which he contacted his bank.

His lawyer Prathamesh Avhad said, "We suspect his card may have been cloned and used abroad. All transactions were made at stores in the US and not online."

At no point had Majumdar lost his credit card, so the possibility of it being stolen and used abroad is ruled out, Avhad said.

Majumdar, the president of a shipping company, has never been to the US and shuttles between Mumbai and South East Asian countries.

To clone a credit or debit card, it needs to be swiped in a skimming machine, which copies all the embedded details in the magnetic strip of a card. These details can then be transferred to another plastic card, and a clone of the card be made.

"Take the example of a hotel. You give your card to the waiter to be swiped while you are at your table. Someone could swipe the card in a skimming device, in addition to the swipe machine to make payments. So, ensure you always around when your card is being swiped," said cyber expert Vijay Mukhi.

Majumdar, who is in Bahrain, had sent an e-mail to the cyber cell about the crime. But a cyber cell officer said they would investigate the matter once the complainant approaches them directly as they would require more details.

"Majumdar should be coming back to the city on February 8, after which we will go to the cyber cell to file our complaint," added Avhad.